eBay Changes Its Feedback System
In a move that has already caused a stir amongst the merchant community, eBay has decided to eliminate negative feedback on buyers.
In a move that has already caused a stir amongst the merchant community, eBay has decided to eliminate negative feedback on buyers.
Buying and selling on eBay is something that millions do each day. Recently, eBay announced a drop in their listing fees and a report suggested that consumers save billions of dollars annually by doing their shopping on the behemoth auction site.
One of the keys to eBay’s enormous success in the online bidding world is the feedback system they created that tracks buyers’ and sellers’ transaction histories, complete with positive, neutral or negative ratings. The result has been that both parties can get a sense of type of business or individual they are dealing with before deciding to bid, or sell. Although this system isn’t perfect, and some users have been irritated over disputes that have led to negative feedback on their profiles, most people who participate in eBay’s auctions accept the feedback system.
But beginning in May of this year, that system is changing. The question is: why?
Christopher Null suggests that eBay wants to do more to protect their buyer community from the fear of reprisals after they leave negative feedback on a merchant. The belief is that if a seller can respond with negative feedback of their own, buyers will be less inclined to leave negative feedback in the first place. Moreover, eBay claims, "when buyers receive negative Feedback, they reduce their activity in the marketplace". It seems hurt feelings leads to fewer purchases.
I have some strong reservations about a feedback system that only works one way. In the past, when reviewing the feedback left by buyers before I have bid on an auction item, I always make sure to check the seller’s response too. This way, I feel I can determine how well a seller handles conflict resolution and it helps me separate a truly bad seller from one who has just had a few bad transactions.
More importantly, what do you think about this change? When you comment, it would be great to know if your opinion is based on being buyer or a seller (or both!) and if you are more or less likely to use eBay once this change takes place.
About time, those prick sellers who hold you for ransom on ebay destroy your rating if you complain about their services, and yet Ebay does squat….
check out my ebay profile "rockinrotho" you will see what I mean……….. I will not buy through Ebay again….
I agree that the Seller should post feedback first, then the Buyer. The difficulty with this is what happens if the seller doesn't post feedback… A system needs to be in place that, yes, the seller post the feedback upon receipt of funds – if the seller does not post feedback – the buyer can post and at that point the seller is prohibited from posting any feedback. This way if the seller doesn't give feedback right away, I'm inclined to believe that he or she would receive bad feedback regardless (because of not posting) – this is a good thing – the seller then, who is in control once the buyer has paid, had better post right away. This system would level the playing field and prevent the existing system of the seller controlling what feedback is posted and ensures the seller provides feedback upon payment.
I agree with Luigi – the buyers fuel the demand… doesn't matter how many sellers there are… if the buyers get burned and go because they can't say anything bad… then we have nothing.
I'm a lot less likely to use a service where I can get stiffed by some deadbeat and have no recourse. I'm trying to put a shop together to produce several lines of small wood items. If I know I'm going to get stiffed I'm going to have to take that into account when I set my reserve price. No; both sides have to be able to feed back or the whole thing is worthless.
I agree with most of the previous comments..as a avid eBayer buyer, I am reluctant to leave negative feedback for a seller because of the threat to my own feedback score…I pay within minutes of purchase…yet, when sellers actually deserve negative feedback, I am forced to provide positive so may score won't be affected. A system where sellers leave feedback first needs to be implemented, so a more honest feedback is left by buyers…with the current system, buyers really can't be sure of the integrity of eBay sellers due to potentially inaccurate feedback scores.
I have complained about what I called 'retaliation feedback' for ages. My one and ONLT negative is such, A guy didn't like what I won his item solf for, and tried to resell it. I caught it, and reported him, and Asked him to pull it before it sold or I'd feed him a negative. He sold it again, but eBay negated it. He got my negative, and I got my item and his retaliation negative.
That said, I think the eBay went overboard. I suggested that feedback be hidden/unlisted from both parties until the limit expires or feedback is left. The other option of sellers having to leave feedback FIRST is a good one as well.
As for the complaints of eBay/PayPal refunds, thats what the Dispute system is about. If the buyer refuses to use it, buyer negatives CAN be removed.
I may look into getting that first neg removed and restoring my 100% rating.
As a Seller, I leave feedback as soon as I receive payment. Even with a dispute, if there was good communication throughout, I like to give my buyer good feedback for that.
As a Buyer, I've received "retaliation feedback" from a recent high-volume seller, which I have to admit, has affected my buying patterns ever since. I took the opportunity to reply to the feedback that I felt it was exactly that, due to my neutral feedback left to the seller.
Sitting on the fence with this one, for now.
I just purchased an item for 1000.00 and have made my payment through paypal. It has been almost a week and I have heard NOTHING from the seller about shipping details etc. I have sent two gentle reminders to the seller as I wish to be HOME when it arrives given the value of the item. The only thing I have received is a request to leave feedback which is highly premature given the circumstances. I did check the sellers rating prior to purchase and felt confident I could proceed. Perhaps the rating system is not all that it is supposed to be.
I think this change in May is not good and should be removed before that date…..this has worked well, so why change it??
I too check the seller's comments to get the other side of the story. Sometimes a buyer truly doesn't do their homework or their part in conflict resolution and it gives the seller a chance to share their side like "item was advertised as damaged" when a buyer places negative feedback for having received a damaged item
First Feedback is OPTIONAL on eBay and it is up to the individual if they want to leave it or not. That said, as a occational Seller the transaction is not complete until the Buyer gets the item in his hands and is satisfied. Postal is not 100% and delays happen and if a buyer summits a NEG feedback because of something that was out of my control that isn't fair to me. As a buyer on ebay if you follow the auction and pay for the item you shouldn't have to worry about NEG feedbacks. Although things do happen and both Buyer and Seller should have the same equal rights to give feedback as they choose. eBay currently may be trying to get buyers to shop on their sight but Sellers PAY eBay.!!! Something to think about.
It's about time that Ebay started to clean up some of these problems. In most cases when I have checked negative feedback for a seller they in turn have responded negativley towards the buyer so it is a no win situation. Yes, many buyers are scared to leave negative feedback because the seller will most likely also leave negative feedback. I like the suggestion that sellers must post their feedback after payment is made and not wait until after the buyer posts the feedback.
The next issue Ebay has to start dealing with is the gouging that is going on with the shipping rates!!! There should be no such thing as a "Flat Rate". It is pathetic when someone is charging $25.00 USD for an item that only cost $4.00 to ship. The packaging is not worth $21.00!!! I don't mind paying a little over the actual shipping amount to cover the cost of packaging but alot of sellers are charging outrageous amounts!!
A lot of folks have made a really good point: if sellers wait until buyers have given feedback, there is a greater chance their feedback will be based on whatever the buyer said about them. What if all eBayers maintained two different accounts – one for buying and one for selling. That way negative (and possibly undeserved) ratings on your buying account wouldn't hurt your reputation as a seller. Thoughts?
I think eBay should set up a system where both seller & buyer are only allowed to leave feedback based on a limited muliple choice system.
For example:
Was payment made within adequate time?
[]Yes []No
Was the item shipped within the specified time?
[]Yes []No
etc, etc.
Something like this would provide a universal report for all buyers & sellers.
People want to see quick results. This way, buyers can click on a seller & promptly see how many unshipped items, how many returns,etc.
In turn,sellers can click on a buyer and see how many unpaid transactions,etc.
Quick & simple.
As a buyer on ebay it drives me nuts that a seller waits until I leave feedback to give theirs. I pay within 24 hours of auction end, so my feedback received should reflect that. If the item does not arrive, for whatever reasons, that it not my fault. I will then contact the seller to see when the item was shipped. If the date shipped was within reason I will still leave positive feedback. As long as the seller holds up their end of the bargain I will leave positive feedback. I know they can't have control after they ship the item. All this being said, I think that once a seller gets their money they should leave feedback and not wait for the buyer to leave theirs.
I like the idea.. but maybe it should just be reserved for the "power sellers"..
I purchased a product last year. paid for it and recieved it.. completely the wrong product.. contacted the seller and she offered to give me my money back AFTER I returned it.. heres the issue. Shipping was like $20 and the product was only $10 (winning bid)..
So what do I do? send it back and lose even more money? Give negative feedback and recieve retalitory feedback (since I only have 3 feedbacks this would hurt me more then the seller)..
in the end… I did nothing.
I also think the retalitory feedback that power sellers use, can do a lot of damage to a new Ebay buyer, where as a seller with 1000's of feedback, one or two negatives does little damage..
IE: I understand why Ebay did this.. They want more new buyers!
exactly as above, the only thing a seller should comment on and provide feedback for, was how fast I paid the friggin bill……nothing else……(rockinrotho)
As someone who worked at eBay for over 2 years in their call centre for power buyers, I cannot tell you how many times I received calls from an honest buyer who had purchased an item, paid on time, and then be faced with a fraudulent seller sending the wrong item, not sending an item at all, or sending a broken item.
These buyers really wanted to warn the eBay community about the behaviour of the seller, but were afraid to, because they didn't want to receive the retaliatory negative feedback from the seller.
Worse, was when one of these buyers would actually leave that well deserved negative. The bad seller would then leave an undeserved, completely false negative against them and the buyer was powerless to do anything. They had no real way to fight back beyond leaving a follow-up comment, and when they turned to us for help, all we could say was that the feedback system was set up to leave your personal opinion on the eBay behaviour of your trading partner and eBay could not influence personal opinion. It was a bad situation all around.
Also, if you want an insiders opinion, I agree that forcing sellers to leave feedback as soon as payment is received is a good idea, but it is highly unlikely to ever happen. Technically, it would be nearly impossible for the company to set up a system to track payments that way. Not everyone uses Paypal, and while eBay may seem omnipresent, it can't tell when a seller receives a cheque or money order, therefore there would be no way to prove or disprove the receipt of payment.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, not all buyer's are good. For every bad seller, there is definitely a bad buyer out there in the community. Taking away a seller's negative feedback abilities will probably be a great thing for the good buyers, but a bad thing for the good sellers who won't be able to warn people against the fraudsters.
That's why, after reading all these comments, I can see why there is no unanimous agreement. There are so many pros and cons to this move, and I can foresee my old colleagues at the call centre taking many an angry call on this subject.
All I can really encourage you to do is to write eBay, tell them your opinion, and ask to have your concerns forwarded to the Office of the President.
Don't get heated, emotional, insulting, or ridiculous. Simply state your opinion and you are more likely to have the rep on the receiving end of that email take you seriously and actually forward it, instead of delete it.
PS- eBay does have customer service phone numbers, but due to the sheer size of the eBay user community it would be physically impossible for eBay to staff enough people to handle the call volume that a general line would produce. That's why they offer several small specialized lines, and that's it.
Wow, thanks Mel. Great insight.
I have a hard time agreeing with many of the comments I have read here. First, I do not think that feedback of any kind except retalitory feedback be eliminated. As a seller and a buyer on Ebay for many years I do not agree with the way feedback is done in the first place for either the Buyer or Seller and I also don't believe that a seller should leave feedback first either and here's why. Say I have sold an item and the buyer pays me and now I leave Positive feedback first, even though the transaction is not really finished on the sellers part. Then say the buyer has a problem with the item, either incorrect, damaged or not received, what is to stop the buyer from just leaving Negative Feedback before contacting the seller as they are suppose to do. I have had buyers that have left Neg. Feedback that way and now the seller has no way to warn other sellers that this buyer does not use the system in place by leaving Neg. Feedback to show that. Also, by the seller not leaving feedback first, if there was a problem with the item and the two of them, Buyer and seller, work things out, then the seller is able to leave a much different Positive Feedback instead of, "Received fast payment, welcome back anytime", now the seller can leave, "Great Ebayer, contacted me on a problem and was able to work it out. Now I know I am talking about only one variable here on a sellers point of view, but there are several ways the a seller can get Neg, Feedback that is not deserved. Then you have the people that leave no feedback of any kind in return which is not right either so there should be a system in place where you have to leave feedback for the fellow Ebayer. Also I think that all Positive feedback received should count on the Feedback Display by the Ebayer's Name and not just the first one by a seller or buyer when every Neg. Feedback given is counted against them as it does now lowering the % mark. What may be done is that the feedback cannot be left for anyone until it goes through a system similar to the dispute system in place now. Say a buyer receives an item and he is happy or not happy with it, then he would enter into the feedback section but instead of right away being able to leave the feedback, he would have to answer a few questions first. Like, 1: Did you receive the item, YES or NO. 2: Was it damaged, YES or NO. 3: Is it the correct item, YES or NO. 4: Overall, are you satisfied with the transaction, YES or NO. If any of these are answered No, then it would go to automatically to the Dispute section and be resolved by the Seller and the Buyer as it is now. If they are all answered YES then it would allow you to leave Positive feedback. Now say they did go to the dispute level and it all got resolved between the Seller-Buyer, it would then allow you to leave Positive Feedback. It would only allow you to leave Neg. Feedback if you could not get satisfaction from the seller once you have tried to work it out and then it would not allow the seller to leave retalitory feedback on the buyer. As far as the seller goes, he is only able to leave positive feedback unless it is where the buyer has not paid for the item and only when he has gone through the dispute level which then he could leave a Neg. Feedback which then would block the buyer from leaving any retalitory feedback. I think I have got the idea across here. I believe this would be better protection for everyone and be more fair plus it would not be hard for Ebay to put this into use with what they have now. WP